17 – 23 August

On Saturday 17 August, Lucia came down from Trieste. Rob and I had planned to visit Galizana for the Festa Od Puzi (Snail festival), so we invited Lucia to go with us.

Lucia accepted but as it turned out is not a fan of snails for eating…

The snails were served with polenta and cooked in a tomato/beef broth. Large and chewy they were very different to the snails you would receive in a good French restaurant. Not exactly to my taste, a little to earthy perhaps but they were ok. Lucia to her credit had a taste but declined her portion which Rob and I then shared so lots of Puzi!.

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable with two bands and the three of us enjoyed the music and the dancing.

Walking back to the car through beautiful Galizana.

On the weekend of 18/19 August Bale under the stars occurred, including an annual night time bike race – The giro de Bale and assorted music events too.

The bike race was enjoyed by about 50 contestants and the racecourse included some of the main streets through town and the small valley (Valle) that the town is built around and gets its name from.

I found out recently that these valleys; some as small as 5 metres wide some as large as 500 metres, occur all over Istria due to the mix of cast and limestone that make up the landscape and also lots of underground rivers. Apparently over time soil drops away and these unique valleys are formed.

The next night there was a lovely classical concert in the Piazza with two excellent female vocalists accompanied by very good strings and keyboard too.

During the week we had more beach days…

Not sure if I have mentioned these little trains before? Most towns we visit have them and they are really cute and so much fun. In Bale, this one does regular trips through the centre of town, out to Il Mare (the sea) and back, about 6km’s there and back..

This week I also gained access to a small oven so I whipped up a lasagne. I think the pan is as old as I am but it still works wonderfully well!

On 22nd August we drive (as Italians would say) to the Eastern side of Istria, about 30kms as the crow flies and about 55 to drive. Our destination today is Labin and then Rabac.

Driving is slower due to most roads being quite windy and there are many small villages dotted the countryside. We are both enjoying this slower pace, I must say.

The landscape in Croatia is rugged with mostly dense medium height foliage and some trees in the interior. On the coast and in the mountains you see taller trees and sometimes forests of taller trees but mostly it has this very lush compact foliage which is everywhere. I imagine settlement in days gone by would have been very tough in this landscape.

We visit Labin first up, a gorgeous town high in the mountains overlooking Rabac.

This is a stunning part of Croatia and well worth a visit.

After a walk around Labin we hope back in the car to go find a sculpture park on an Estate nearby that I have read about.

The sculpture park turns out to be huge and we have to drive through it as it’s so big!

The sculptures are all large and very “contemporary”. Not quite what we were expecting but interesting nevertheless.

Back in the car and on to Rabac. The drive down to the bay is steep and winding and the valley at the bottom is lush. There is a cute little town; Rasa I think, tucked into the the last pass just above Rabac that looks like it has a mining site.

Rabac, also known as the “Pearl of Kravner Bay” is stunningly beautiful and very busy. Apparently the town, formerly a fishing village, now hosts up to 11,000 visitors a day during summer and this is quite evident as it takes us quite a while to find a car park. Leaving the car we stroll towards town and then find a shortcut, about 200 steps down to the seaside, then find a cute little Konoba (Restaurant) Lino for lunch.

If you zoom on this photo you can just see the Labin church tower on the left side, on top of the mountain.

After lunch we roam the mariner for a while before heading back to Bale. What a great day out exploring we had.

Friday 23 August we have another productive day at the beach and by now we have tans worthy of my childhood summer days 🙂 before we head to Sv Petar u Sumi (St Peters in the forest) for a Sausage festival.

The sausage festival had a sausage stuffing competition and Rob and I considered registering for a moment. I’m glad we didn’t in the end as this region is very reknowned for its sausages (think Salamis). I think we would have been laughed at!

We had a great night though enjoying local dishes and salami, traditional music and a very good rose!

Another great week in Istria Croatia.

Thinking of my lovely mum today. Gone from this world but forever in my heart.

Love to all xx